Supermoon, Blue Moon, and Lunar Eclipse to Happen at the Same Time

January 31 will be seeing a supermoon, a blue moon, and a lunar eclipse, all at the same time.

January 31 is shaping up to be a busy night, as it will hold a supermoon, blue moon, and a lunar eclipse. This latter is also a blood moon, and all of these events will be taking place at the same time.

The Rare Alignment of the Supermoon, Blue Moon, and Lunar Eclipse

Some are humorously calling this as a “super blue blood moon” due to the culmination of events. In any case, these are good news for scientists. They can take the opportunity to study our planet’s natural satellite with a heat-seeking camera.

Some explanations: this version of the “blue moon” does not actually have anything to do with color. Instead, it refers to having two full moons in the same calendar month. This happens about once in 2.7 years.

A “supermoon” is when the moon is at its perigee, meaning the part of its orbit closest to Earth. Because of this, it will appear unusually large in the sky.

Meanwhile, a lunar eclipse happens when the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow in such a way that it goes through all of its phases in a matter of a few hours. Such a celestial event will occur on the morning of January 31. The eclipse will give the space body a reddish tinge. This is why it is sometimes called a “blood moon.”

Technically, all of these phenomena have to occur during a full moon. That is, with the exception of a supermoon, which can also happen during a new moon. However, all these events rarely occur at the same time.

It’s the eclipse that interest scientists the most, however, as it will give them a chance to use their thermal camera and monitor how the moon’s surface cools.

According to Noah Petro of NASA, during an eclipse, the moon:

“goes from being in an oven to being in a freezer in just a few hours.”

Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii will be observing this, and use data to determine the composition, porousness, and “fuzziness” of the rocks. This set of data could later be used to determine future landing sites.